interesting straits times article
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Best personnel for defence, regardless of race
AZMI HASSAN
SINGAPORE'S defence capabilities are said to be more developed than Malaysia's, but the two countries' armed forces are similar in many ways.
Both the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are modernising their organisations. Most obvious is the purchase of sophisticated military hardware costing billions.
Foreign strategic analysts cannot be blamed for thinking there is an arms race between the neighbouring countries.
When Singapore purchased the very sophisticated AIM-120C and Rapier guided missiles, Malaysia appeared to reciprocate with the Jernas air defence system and Astros guided missile.
Similarly, when Singapore purchased the Sea Serpent-class submarine, Malaysia responded by buying an attack submarine more advanced than the Scorpene-class.
As for Malaysia's latest acquisition, the Sukhoi Su-30MKM two-seat combat aircraft, it is highly probable that Singapore will respond by buying the most sophisticated fighter jet, the F35, currently being developed by Lockheed Martin.
Another very interesting matter emerges when the MAF and SAF are compared and analysed with one another. They have very similar racial compositions. More than 90 per cent of the MAF is made up of one race, Malays, and nine out of every 10 SAF personnel are Chinese, the dominant race in Singapore.
There the similarity ends, however, as the racial makeup in each case stems from very different processes.
The Chinese dominance in the SAF was planned from the start by its leaders when the Republic left Malaysia in 1965.
Shortly after it separated from Malaysia, Singapore's defence system was still dominated by the Malaysian army as Malaysia still had military bases in the country. Even Mr Lee Kuan Yew's bodyguards were from the Malaysian army.
When the Singapore Parliament convened in December 1965, however, the SAF Act was passed. Among other things, it outlined that Singapore's defence system should be supported by only Singaporeans.
But just as the Israelis do not trust Israeli Arabs, Singapore leaders do not completely trust the loyalty of Singapore Malays. This is why Chinese Singaporeans hold the critical appointments in the SAF.
The MAF is different. Although Malays dominate most posts and sectors in the MAF, this was not a result of conscious policy planning, but because the Chinese are traditionally less interested in serving in the army.
The Chinese saying that 'good metal is not used to make nails' perhaps explains why Chinese parents feel there is no need to have their sons serve in the army.
When Singapore leaders passed the 1954 National Service (NS) Ordinance, students from Chinese schools protested strongly against it.
In fact, when the Singapore Infantry Regiment (SIR) was established in 1957, Chinese Singaporeans did not respond to the challenge. Malays residing in Singapore and Malaysia filled the vacancies instead.
It has been said that the SAF succeeded in filling its ranks with Chinese Singaporeans only because of its compulsory national service system. If not, filling vacancies in the SAF would be difficult for Singapore.
In Malaysia, the question of whether Malays trust the Chinese does not arise, unlike in Singapore and Israel.
Israel is suspicious of Arabs because it is surrounded by Arab countries.
Singapore is also suspicious of how loyal Malay Singaporeans are because it is surrounded by countries where ethnic Malays dominate.
History has proven that loyalty to one's country will rise above loyalty to one's race.
Conflicts among Arab countries, such as the Iran-Iraq war, proved that loyalty to the nation was of utmost importance. People were prepared to kill each other even though they hailed from the same stock or religion.
The MAF and Malaysian Police should work harder to ensure that Malaysia's security agencies are represented by all races in Malaysia.
This is important not only to reflect the country's true racial composition, but also to show that all races are playing their respective roles in national defence.
Even more critically, a defence and security system which uses the most developed military technology requires the best personnel that can be found. This is an objective which can be realised only if all Malaysians, regardless of race, play their part.
If the MAF and police do not have quality personnel, whether Malay, Chinese or Indian, then possessing sophisticated equipment like Jernas, Scorpene and Sukhoi will be meaningless as they will not have the right people to operate them.
The writer is a professor at the Universiti Teknologi Mara in Malaysia. This article first appeared in Malay in Berita Harian (Malaysia).